Improvement in metallurgic furnaces



ELM/ 7925? l Patented on.. 17,1671..

N WMM UNITED ASTATES PATENT OFFICE.,

JOHN Y. SMITH, OFPITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN METALLURGIC FURNACES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 120,005, dated October17, 1871 antedated October 3, 1871.

To all lwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN Y. SMITH, of Pittsburg, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Revolving Puddling-Furnaces; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the annexed drawing making part of thisspecification, in which- Figure l is a plan view. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation; Fig. 3, a section of the fan; Fig. 4, a perspective view of apart. Fig. 5 is a plan and section of the furnace and adjustable throat.

In all the iigures the same letters are employed in the designation ofidentical parts.

My improvements relate to a puddling-furnace of that class in which thefurnace is made to re- Y volve; and my invention consists in a new modeof putting a lining into such furnaces and in certain details ofconstruction to be hereinafter set forth.

I have also shown in Figs. 6, 7, and 8 a furnace primarily adapted tothis class of pud- (lling-furnace, but also susceptible to applicationin connection with other kinds of furnaces. In this part of my case myinvention consists in placing between the combustion-chamber and thepuddling-furnace a chamber lled with incandescent coke or anthracitecoal or other similar pure carbonaceous substance, through theinterstices between which gases evolved in the combustion-chamber arecaused to pass, and a perfect combustion thereof is thereby e'ected.

In the annexed drawing, I have shown at A a revolving puddling-furnace,made in the ordinary manner of staves of iron and lined internally witha refractory lining, to be hereinafter more fully described. Thisfurnace revolves upon the friction wheels B, being driven in the usualmanner. The heads of the furnace are made slightly conical, and otherwheels, B are so placed and supported that they shall hold the furnaceagainst that tendency to longitudinal movement which I have found, inpractice, to be one of the difficulties attending the use of furnaces ofthis class. The combustion-chamber is indicated at C. It may be made sothat it may be wheeled to one side to give access to the interior of thepuddling-furnace. I prefer to use as a lining for my furnace pulverizedsilex, obtained readily by grinding quartz-rock. This is mixed with asmall. quantity of salt or lead, or both, and slightly moistened withwater. This I put into the furnace in the following manner: Flangedformers D, Fig. 4L, are formed to fit the inside of the furnace,extending om end to end, the narrow flange indicated by dotted linesbearing against the case of the furnace and leaving a space between suchshell and the inner plate d. One of these formers being placed in thefurnace, the space between the shell and the plate d is packed with theprepared silex, so as to form a lining between the shell and said plate,exten ding into the throats Al A2 of the furnace. Another former, D, isthen introduced, and in like manner packed with the silex, and so onuntil the entire surface of the furnace is lined. A slow iire is thenbuilt and the furnace revolved, and as the silex is dried the intensityof the lire is increased until the silex is fused into a homogeneousmass, forming a perfect lining in one homogeneous tubular mass for theentire furnace. The formers may be removed during this operation as soonas the lining is capable of sustaining itself 5 or, being made ofcast-iron, may be allowed to remain in the furnace until the intensityof the heat melts them. The lining, in hardening, will expand so as tofill the spaces left on the removal of the formers, and a perfect andentire lining of silex be left within the shell of the furnace capableof resisting any heat afterward required in the furnace. The uptake Eopens out of a chamber, F, containing a coil for heating the air-blast.The chamber F may be mounted on wheels so that the end of thepuddling-furnace may be opened to permit the contents of the furnace tobe taken out. In this case the fan-case Gr must be connected with thehot-air coils by a jointed pipe, Gf, and the blast-pipe H must also bein like manner jointed so as to permit the chamber F to be moved withoutdisconnecting the pipes. One difculty in operating this class offurnaces has been to maintain the connection between the movable partsof the furnace and the revolving furnace. This I obviate in thefollowing manner: Inside the throats I place rings made of silex in themanner set forth. These rings are placed inside the throats, so as tofit neatly, but to allow the longitudinal adjustment of the rings. Therings may be operated by means of the weighted lever shown in Fig. 6,attached to the ring A3. The

rings will be pressed together, hut as they wear the lever will keep theends in contact; and when a ring is worn out it may be readily replacedby a new one.

I propose to use in connection with the furnace finely-pulverized fuel;and to feed this to the combustion-chamber I desire to employ the forceof the blast. To this end I use a case, I, containing a fan which isdriven by the blast passing through the case. The blast is then partlyconducted directly into the combustion chamber through the pipe I1, andpartly through the pipe I2 into the fuel-feeder, to carry with it thefinelypulverized fuel into the combustion-chamber. On the end of thefan-shaft which passes through the end of the case I is a pulleyconnected with the pulley on the end of the spiral feeder placed inthefuel-injector K, so that the revolution of the fan-wheel gives motionto the spiral feeder.

Instead of the ordinary furnace, I prefer to use one made on theprinciple of that shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The combustion-chamber L maybe constructed with the ordinary grate-bars for burning solid fuel, orwith the fine-fuel injector M, or both. Between the combustion-chamberand the revolving or other furnace I place another chamber, N, to befilled with lumps of a pure carbonaceous fuel, such as coke oranthracite coal, the lumps being of such size as to permit the draughtto be forced through their interstices. This may be effected by means ofthe pressure-blast or by the aid of an exhaust-pipe in the up-take,through which a jet of steam is forced into the uptake, or by bothcombined. These lumps may be fed into the chamber N through the hopperO. This chamber should also be constructed with gratebars N to permitthe ashes and clinkers or other solid product of combustion to be drawnoff. The pipe Q is intended to discharge a blast of air under thegrates, as shown. The gases of combustion, or the carbonized air, inpassing through the chamber N and between the incandescent lumpstherein, will be heated to the highest possible degree and a perfectcombustion effected. By this means I am able to produce a pure reducingflame in the furnace.

I am aware that a furnace is shown in Tooths English patent No. 277 of1860, having a chamber placed between the fire-box and the puddlingfurnace to belled with gas-yielding coal, to be distilled by the actionof the heat passed through the mass; but it is no part of my purpose tomake gas in this chamber; on the contrary, it is indispensible that thecoal used should be as nearly as possible pure carbon, the best materialbeing a pure anthracite or coke or charcoal, for, if the material usedwill yield a gas under the action of the heat other than a pure carbonioacid or oxide, it will not answer the purpose in view in this invention,which is the purification and heating of the gases evolved in thefire-box.

It is obvious that this form of heatingfurnaees L may be used with otherkinds of furnaces, and also that other furnaces for generating heat maybe used in combination with afurnace such as that shown. I do not,therefore, limit my claim to the use of the two in combination.

I am aware that revolving puddling-furnaces are in common use; and alsothat the use of pulverulent fuel is common; and also that such fu'el hasbeen injected over the surface of fires of solid fuel or mingled withthe gaseous products thereof; and also that it has been proposed todrive jets of pulverulent fuel against the surface of lumps ofrefractory substances piled in the combustioitchamber and maintained inan incandescent state to assist in burning the particles of fuel. Noneof these things are, therefore, claimed unless such lumps of refractorysubstances are used in a chamber such as N.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

l. A revolving' furnace, A, the inclined heads of which .are supportedagainst friction-wheels B', substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

2. A revolving furnace, A, when lined on the interior by a solid tube ofhomogeneous material formed by the action of heat, substantially as setforth'.

8. In combination with a revolving' furnace, adjustable rings ofrefractory material for forming the jointsbetween the necks of thefurnace and the parts connected therewith.

4. The formers D, when used in combina-tion with the shell of thefurnace to form the lining thereof, substantially in the manner setforth.

5. In combination with theblast-pipe and spiral fuel-feeder M, a fan andcase, I, when respectively so constructed and connected that the blastshall operate the feeder, substantially in the manner set forth.

G. In combination with the combustion-chamber L, a chamber, N, filledwith incandescent lumps of a pure carbonaceous substance, such as coke,or anthracite coal, through which chamber the gaseous products ofcombustion are forced, substantially as set forth.

7. In combination with an apparatus for feeding finely-pulverized fuelto be burned while floating in the air, a chamber, N, filled withincandescent lumps of such carbonaceous substances as aforesaid, throughwhich the carbonized air is forced, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN Y. SMITH.

Witnesses:

B. Enw. J. ErLs,

A. RUPPERT. (99)

